I woke up today and realized I hadn’t blogged in a bit, so here I am knocking out a blog for you to read! As always, these are chill, almost like a conversation, so don’t be offended by run on sentences, swear words, or weird pop culture references. I will always use the oxford comma, when appropriate….

So first off, I guess it is cool to point out that Scott has almost been with Monon for a full year! He started with me last year in May and is killing it. He likes sours, so hit me with ideas on social media of what I should get for him (@mononbeverage) and I will explore suggestions! Sorry Scott, surprise is ruined.

Next thing we all might be thinking about is the Avengers movie is coming out this week, but did you see that Venom trailer…? Did you know Thanos has been Venom….? Shouldnt get started on this worm hole of superhero talk… But Thanos did have the symbiote, would have been cooler as Carnage….

Back to Monon related things though, although I am always happy to talk comics, movies (or Films as Josh Hull-oween would call them….Nerd…), or whatever nerd stuff you got. Love that stuff

So we have been getting into some fun things with our producers. Participating in events like Death and Taxes day, 4/20ish party, Muncie BrewFest and more. Its been crazy busy, but thats good!

We even have a really cool thing being worked on behind the scenes. I can’t say much yet, however, I think it is something new, and not done before in the Indy area…. We will see as the time comes closer, maybe its been done, just more quietly.

I figure I will end on throwing out some of my favorite products from our producer partners. If you watched Monday’s with Monon 2 weeks ago, you could have heard what both Scott and I were feeling from our breweries, but that may have changed as 2 weeks ago is a world away.

Moonlight Meadery: Little Apples cider is becoming my front runner favorite. Semi dry cider, oh, and it killed it at the Muncie Brewfest, we ran out of this first!!
Flat 12: Holy Cross Kolsche Series, peach kolsch is a solid spring time beer, im ready for mango kolsch to come out soon. These fruited kolsches are solid.
Evil Czech: Nefarious Harbor, NEIPA, Juicy, Dank, Hazy. ‘Nuff said.
Burn Em: Hop Parade, tropical hoppy beer. Cool cool!
Byway: Chupacabra, this leans away from their traditional style beers and gets crazy as it is a pomegranate margarita gose. While I love their porter, this may take 1st from them.
Tin Man: BB Csar, wellll slightly cheating on this as it isnt currently available, however, I just had one last night and remembered how much I loved it.

Hoosier Momma: Sriracha Mix, my favorite alcoholic mix drink is a bloody mary, and this one is perfect blend of spices, margarita mix is solid, especially with Cinco de Mayo coming up
Live Proud: This is one of the few vodkas I can drink straight up. Clean, and slightly sweet. Perfect to add to a bloody mary…
Best Vineyards and Winery: Mango Wine… Makes me want to go outside and do some barbecue right now. Balanced sweetness, definitely going to play with it in cooking soon.

Make sure to check out our weekly videos on Facebook, Monday’s with Monon. Cheers!

OH! Remember that time Captain America said Hail Hydra…? (thats really the quickest way I could have ended this blog)

So, this month marks 6 months of me being in business for myself!

I felt like a blog was appropriate for that. Especially now that I have had some time to reflect on what I have done to get this far.

What can I say, so much has changed from when I originally was thinking of starting Monon Beverage back in July of 2016. I guess back then I didn’t know much of what would come from this, nor if it would even work, but here I am 6 months and expanding. I never planned to hire someone, but I will be shortly! A separate rep to cover 5 Indiana breweries, its a beautiful thing. That is an adventure in its own not to mention a few other plans for growth within the next 2-4 months.

I work with some very talented producers, several of which I am glad to have as friends, and people whom I trust to bounce ideas off while I am growing Monon. All the producer’s opinions weigh heavy on me, so its great to have people that will shoot me straight and give me even better ideas of how to grow. Warms my heart with some inviting me into their Christmas parties, or even brewing/distilling with them. I get excited being able to work with a product I got to help produce. I originally thought it would just be a work relationship, but its way better than that!

After meeting a college student in a bar who was looking to start his own business, I really had time to reflect on the nights of lost sleep, the long hours, the endless desk work, filing of papers, hearing no (many many times), being turned down after driving hours to meet with a potential client and other heartbreak from starting Monon. Not to mention lost time with the sweetest puppy you will ever meet, or lost time with family and friends, but you know what? I’d go down this same path again because at the end of the day it feels great. I started something in an industry that I love, and it shows when I talk about what I do. There are a few things I might consider doing differently, but I stand by all decisions I have made with Monon Beverage since the idea first came up.

Thanks to everyone who have supported me thus far! So much good to come, keep an eye out for more!!

SPW

So I have been officially in business since October, that makes a solid 4 months! I also have 4 gray hairs….. coincidence…? Dana is good to point out a small area going gray when she trims my lovely ginger hair. Speaking of… I need a hair cut soon, or I can just keep wearing hats since it is cold out…..

Anyhow, whats new? Whats fun? Tons of stuff!!

As I type this I have 3 agreements on my desk for new brands to work with, which is very exciting! I am happy to make it official and say that I will be working with Deer Creek Brewery and Hoosier Mamma Culinary Cocktail Makers starting now!

Deer Creek is very exciting to me as they are a mile from my house and I have been drinking beers produced by the brewery’s owner since I could at their sister company’s venue; Barley Island. This makes for two local breweries (Deer Creek and Scarlet Lane) and two non-local ones (Arcadia and O’Fallon), pretty much locking me up to not add anymore breweries to my line up. Why you ask? Well I want to give the proper attention to the producers whom I already work with. Too many brands in any category will cannibalize sales, but, I might have room for one more heavy hitter…. No one in sights, and I am rather content with whom I work with already.

Hoosier Mamma is exciting as they are my first non-alcoholic brand. It is also a fact that my favorite mixed drink is a Bloody Mary (Old Fashioned winning 1st choice in all other spirits based categories) Hoosier Mamma is also fun since I can do events around my spirits producers with their mix! Broken Beaker Vodka or even Indiana Whiskey’s Silver Sweet Corn whiskey in one sound great! Their Blood Orange mix is amazing too. So many ways to make cocktails with it too!

Oh, you are right, I did say 3 agreements… Well! I will keep you in suspense, but I can say it is really exciting and I have a bunch to read up on as it is something I am less versed in. March is when the next one gets rolling!

Lastly, Moonlight Meadery is still doing awesome stuff. Some new meads just made it into Indiana, and I need to get my hands on them. Warm & Fuzzy (Peach Ginger Mead) and Destiny (Utopias Barrel Aged Desire-blue berries, black cherries and black currants)

So that is really it for now. I have a ton of irons in the fire and so many other good things in the works! Keep up to date with me on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram (@mononbeverage) to see what else I do to keep busy. There might even be spoilers on Twitter and Instagram as to who the third agreement above is with. Or maybe just memes, news and product highlights… Either way, you are missing out if you dont follow me on these!

SPW

So, big year for me!

The obvious part, starting a business. This has grown much quicker than I had expected and that is great! Back in July when I was registering the business name with the state, I had no clue it would become what it has already. Needless to say I am very excited moving forward into 2017. I do look back at 2016 and see how there were several speed bumps, but I kept moving. Car was stolen from my driveway, being Director of Operations for a brewery where I wasn’t totally happy, to simply just getting my own business running. Speed bumps are great, they helped me grow.

Im very fortunate for all the producers I’m working with, because without them, I wouldn’t have much of a business. All of them took a leap of faith with me (Starting with Moonlight Meadery and Indiana Whiskey back in late August when we first started talking) I’m even more fortunate for the friendships I have and have developed this year. I have met with so many people and talked about what Monon Beverage is and each time I am grateful for the conversations. It helps me reflect on what I am doing in the first place, how I can better serve current producers, and future ones too. I love that I can have meetings that end in pizza parties with Scarlet Lane to dressing like Dr. Santa and going all over Mass Ave handing out presents with Broken Beaker. Traveling to visit O’Fallon and Arcadia to hear their stories, see their facilities, as well as meet their team has been great too. (New Hampshire in the spring to see Moonlight Meadery and make mead with them, yup, thats a goal.)

Reflection on 2016 is good, but I am also looking to 2017. Im looking to grow my business and grow as an individual. So what does 2017 have? I have my list of goals on my dry erase board, and I am printing a second set to be on my mirror in my bathroom. That way I see my goals while at my desk, and while getting ready in the morning. I have simple goals like more followers on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, but then goals with more depth like hitting $100,000 in sales for my producers. I want to better my education, so before Q1 is over, I plan to finish my Certified Specialist of Spirits and finish working on my Cicerone and BJCP certifications. I will get back to Sommelier when those 3 are done, and possibly mess with Micro-matic certifications. I want to perfect my craft to better serve all of those I work with.

Most importantly, developing long term relationships with those whom I work along side. Whether it is the producers, buyers, or just others in the beverage industry. I am looking to get to know everyone better.

Cheers to 2016, and here is looking at you 2017. Now to decide what I am going to drink at midnight in a week….
SPW

Hey Everyone!

So it has been an busy past couple weeks, but I had time to sit down and update my news section again! Between adding new brands to my portfolio and meeting with some other brewery service providers, its been a good busy!

Two New Brands!! Arcadia from Kalamazoo, MI, and Broken Beaker off Mass Ave in Indy!

I had the pleasure of visiting Arcadia last month and they are great. They just celebrated their 20th year and have some unique stuff being made up there. Open fermentation of some beers is probably the most interesting thing I saw, not a common method of fermentation. A few flights and the Mango Surprise won as my favorite

Broken Beaker is a local distillery, one of the younger ones, but there is some cool stuff happening! Between the mass improvement of products over the past 6 months and the products in r&d, I feel really good about these guys. Have you tried their Gin yet? Solid and Im excited for their spiced rum.

Other than signing new brands to represent, I have been fortunate to meet with Kitto Insurance and Catalyst Group Marketing. (I still need to sit down with Jesse from Circle City Fermentation Sciences, we have had beers before, but not as business owners, so Jesse, lets make it happen if you are reading this!!)

Ive known Kitto for about a year now, but never sat down to hear what he was doing with his business. They take care of some of our friends in this industry and they make sure there is legit coverage in the breweries and restaurants.

Scott from the Catalyst Group Marketing is breaking into the brewery support world but has tremendous experience in marketing. His webpages are pretty cool. If I ever pay to have mine reworked, I would go to his team for sure.

Im in St. Louis Tuesday and Wednesday meeting O’Fallon and their team, so I am excited to see what they are getting into. That being said I need to get going so I can have a productive Monday! Thanks for reading!
SPW

Oh, and P.S. Moonlight Meadery just released cans of Little Apples and Them Apples to Indiana. 6.9% and 13.5% whiskey barrel aged ciders!!

Hey!

So continuing with my informal posts, I felt like addressing one question I get at least once a week. “What exactly is Monon Beverage Brokers?”. There are sub questions that come from it, so answering those will follow.

“What exactly are you?” -The goal of Monon Beverage Brokers is to offer sales, event, and distribution management to beer, wine, liquor, and mead producers. This comes in all shapes and styles. Some producers may be are looking to grow into distribution, some need extra feet on the streets during a launch, or full time representation in the state of Indiana.(the latter being my favorite as I can build long lasting relationships with these producers)

“Where is your warehouse?” -Well, I dont need one. I work with the distribution already in place. Maybe it is a large distributor, or maybe they self distro, whatever the case, I am a producer in the eyes of the ATC. Everyone has a place in the 3 tier system and mine is with the producers for all operation purposes. I also don’t have the logistics experience nor financial backing for such an undertaking. Im fine letting the pros handle this.

“Why do you represent them?” -Everyone who I represent, or will represent, have been vetted and looked into deeply. I will not represent a brand that is not producing quality products. This seems to lead to the next question often

“Didn’t so and so producer bad beer/wine/liquor/mead?” -Everyone has had a bad or even just misunderstood product at one point in time. Even Coors/Miller/Bud have had flops. Two of the producers I work with make a Braggot which is a style I have rarely dealt with, misunderstood for sure.

“Would you ever represent X brand?” -Yeah, there are several brands I have my eyes on, and a few of those are watching me too. There are even a few out of state brands not yet in Indiana that I would love to bring here.

“Do you just do sales and events?” -Most simply, yes. There are several office tasks I do, but I also have offered beer, wine, and spirits training to bars and restaurants. Line cleaning has always been something on the back burner for Monon, but I have been pretty busy already with the sales and events aspect.

“You must drink so much!” -Less a question and more something I hear a lot too. I rarely drink outside of work based meetings or events. I can enjoy a beer here and there, or a cocktail while I read, however I am around it all day, so it becomes less appealing to continue being around it.

“Do you home brew beer or wine?” -This is sort of a part two from above. Accountants dont go home and do more math, so my hobbies differ from my career. I am still looking for a solid hobby, so suggest something and I will give it a shot

“Why did you start your own business?” -This seems the best one to end on. I have been in this industry since 2011, drinking before that and I love it. The people, the community it creates, everything! I’m fortunate that out of school I landed a gig with People’s Brewing Co which helped shape what I do now. I look back on what I did well, and what I didnt do so well. (Brett, you were right about using a CRM system…. Ive said it before, but now it is in print, CRM is the way to go.) Next gig as Director of Operations for a brewery/winery combo I saw where they had past success, but also what not to do. I got the push I needed in July of 2016 to do my own thing, although I wasnt sure what it was exactly. October 2016 Monon Beverage Brokers Launched! It has changed somewhat from its beginnings, and will change more as time goes on.

“What next?” -Okay, I said I was going to end on the last question but this just came up while taking a break from typing. Im not sure. I am playing with ideas on how to provide better customer service as well as add to my team. Being able to talk to people like Kitto Insurance Inc and Bottoms Up Beer gives me ideas on how they have been successful in the service end of this industry vs the production end. There are others I probably should grab a pint with or working with the Brewers Guild in Indiana as their goal is the same as mine in a sense: To promote awareness.

So I will ask a question to you now: Anyone else I should hook up with in this industry or how can I better serve you?

Thanks for reading!
SPW